MLL Telecom has been awarded a £12 million contract by Surrey County Council (SCC) to provide and manage high-speed fibre wide area network (WAN) and WiFi services.
The contract was procured under the South East Grid (SEG) Framework Agreement and runs for 10 years for WAN services and an initial five years for WiFi. There is an option for the Council to extend the latter for a further five years. In August 2023, MLL started transitioning and upgrading the Council’s existing WAN which connects Council offices, libraries, social care and Fire and Rescue facilities.
By August 2024, all sites were successfully transitioned, using MLL’s high-speed SD-WAN based solutions for delivering high-speed access to Internet, WiFi, PSN and HSCN network services.
This milestone was achieved by MLL and the SCC project teams working in partnership to ensure that all sites were migrated prior to expiry of the previous contract. By March 2025, 108 of these sites will be connected over a new BT Openreach Full Fibre (FTTP) network operated by Neos Networks. The remainder will utilise the existing Fibre to the Cabinet or Ethernet connections.
The contract also includes the delivery of a package of social value benefits that support the wider community. As part of its offer, MLL has recruited two Surrey-based apprentices, who will be undertaking their engineering apprentice scheme, while working directly on the delivery of the Surrey network. The new full fibre infrastructure that SCC has funded will enable thousands of other local businesses and residents in Surrey to get access to low cost FTTP services, that would not otherwise have been available.
“Following a comprehensive evaluation by Surrey County Council, we are delighted to have been awarded a further significant network transition and transformation contract under the South East Grid framework agreement,” said Gail Harvey, MLL’s business development director.
“This further demonstrates our ability to provide members of the South East Grid consortium with competitive, agile and future-proof network solutions, in this instance highlighting our expertise in SD-WAN and WiFi to replace Surrey’s existing technology with a modern, fit-for purpose offering.
“We are now in a strong position to potentially extend our services to include schools and healthcare facilities in Surrey while also sending a positive signal to other councils and public bodies in the South East Grid region. Every partner can take advantage of easier access to the latest technology for enabling a significant refresh and step change across the network as part of MLL’s managed service.”
Matt Scott, CDIO at Surrey County Council, said, “We are pleased to see Surrey County Council reaping the time and cost benefits afforded by utilising the SEG procurement framework. We look forward to the efficiencies and social value MLL’s network services will ultimately deliver to all the stakeholders concerned including council employees and local residents.”
Stuart Wallis, CCO, MLL Telecom, said, “With Surrey County Council joining the SEG consortium, SCC have benefited from a market-leading single vendor solution to achieve a network-wide refresh, taking advantage of the latest technologies including SD-WAN integrated with WiFi. Sites will be capable of reaching gigabit speeds along with MLL providing a strong social investment across the region, and our first zero carbon rollout.”